Montréal based George Stamos is a versatile artist and educator who has trained extensively in a diverse range of western contemporary / postmodern dance practices and specific Central African dance techniques. He has taught numerous independent workshops and classes at L'Université du Québec à Montréal and Concordia University. His specialization in teaching lies in the co-ordination of techniques for generating spontaneous movement with somatic exercises, structured improvisation, rhythm and relations to objects, weight and space.

George is also known for creating performance that is physically dynamic, witty and thought provoking. Over the past fifteen years he has produced work regularly in Montreal and toured across North America. George has also danced with many prominent choreographers including Benoit Lachambre, Sara Shelton Mann and Zab Maboungou. In his formative years Stamos was a go-go dancer in Toronto, London, Amsterdam and NYC and he is a 1993 graduate of Amsterdam’s School for New Dance Development. George’s current research includes creation projects exploring gender and authority through the lens of queer theory and separately, an examination of how his teaching can be adapted to meet the needs of people living with Autism. Articles and reviews written by
Stamos have been published online and in print by Canada’s leading dance
magazine The Dance Current.

reel.

With
his new durational solo reel George
Stamos intersects his experience of euphoric dancing in nightclubs with
beliefs around communion with the universe and ritual. In a twirling meditation
oscillating between performance, liturgy and play Stamos maintains a state of
spinning for periods of up to 60 min at a time. Performed in public away from
the theater the audience is free to come and go as they please. Reel
reconfigures conventional meetings between spectator and spectacle,
evoking the potential for ordinary magic in daily life.

(reel.) does not prescribe a predetermined experience
or proximity to the audience; it is a reframing of public space and an invitation to witness or take part in an eccentric, kitsch, and rigorous contemporary meditation driven
by an instinct to spin.

Nunounenon

With the word “no” as a point of departure Nunounenon is inspired by Yvonne Rainer’s 1965 No Manifesto, feminism and marching bands. With wit and humour the collaborators (dancers Gabrielle Surprenant-Lacasse and Anouk Thériault, composer Jackie Gallant and choreographer George Stamos) explore ways feminism and queerness inform how the female body is presented.

By turning clichés inside out Nunounenon reveals the absurdity of hyper-sexualized bodies and discrepancies between idealism and reality. The duo looks at how the word "no" is embodied. Nunounenon affirms an intrinsic right for every body to hold power.

Situations

Situations is an exploration of contemporary masculinities with the goal of stimulating a dialog on sexism, gender and authority. Situations evokes different ways the
power dynamics of gender identity are embodied and how enculturation and social
trends affect the presentation of the male body. Situations is an acknowledgement of the matrix of binary
heteronormative thinking, male privilege and an exploration of ways by which
this privilege and thinking could be reconfigured.

Increasingly, we live in a world where traditional ideas about gender no longer
make sense. Meanwhile stories about contemporary masculinity go in and out of style,
leaving us confused, uncertain and even complaisant about gender equality. We
use terms like “metrosexual” and “lumbersexual” to explain the latest version
of the modern man. We continue to be told simple stories about fundamental
differences between men and women and contrasting stories about how progress towards gender equality is
happening. These stories are increasingly unconvincing and hollow.

Although we claim to aim for gender equality it continues to be predominantly
men who hold political power, privilege and the ability to shape the world.
This is obvious in our international relations, city planning, architecture,
fashion industry, as well as how products ranging from cars to body lotions are
marketed. Men rule the world. Sex(ism) sells, it’s comfortable and we know how
it works… so why change? When are changes platitudes? How does gender and
authority play out in the context of contemporary dance?

Situations explores how these combinations of circumstances can
be examined in performance, through the lens of queer theory, to form musings on who the
"typical modern man" might be, if he exists, what his
responsibilities are, how he occupies space and what women might have to say
about it.

Situations
will premiere at l'Agora de la danse in Montreal, October 2015.
Situations has received support from The Canada Council For the Arts, The
McKnight Foundation, l'Agora de la danse and le Conseil des arts et des lettres
du Québec.

One Kind Favor

One Kind Favor is danced by Karla Etienne, choreographed by George Stamos with music composed and performed live by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. Special thanks to Sarah Shelton Mann for her introduction to dancing with the harmonica and permission to develop "harmonica dancing" in this project.

One Kind Favor is a study of how patience and kindness can be embodied and the spaces they create.

Knowing Not Knowing Workshop

Teaching my interpretations of techniques and methods that have been passed down to me by the master teachers I have worked with is at the core of my
artistic practice. In helping artists realize their goals I am inspired towards
mine as well. My approach is a balance between a practice of disseminating
information versus providing a context for workshop participants to share and
polish their own skills and ideas.

The
way I teach movement is designed to develop the critical eye and awareness of methods
for creating spontaneous mindfulness in motion. This
includes teaching performers how to auto tune their senses and engage their
intellect and body systems without disappearing into automatic dancing. The workshop will also
expose the students to techniques for generating spontaneous movement compositions with objects and rhythm.

I
am committed to providing a workshop environment that is a safe, mature, place
to learn skills and strengthen abilities. My interest is in empowering fellow artists and assisting them as they expand their own creative potential.

Photo credits-

top of page- George Stamos, photo by Veronique Mystique

second from top- Ryan Dean, Robert Haarman, Patrick Jeffrey, Eben Knowler, Justin Leaf, Nic Lincon in Situations by George Stamos, photo courtesy of the McKnights Foundation

third from top- Gabrielle Surprenant-Lacasse and Anouk Thériault, in Nunounenon photo by Veronique Mystique

fourth from top- George Stamos, photo by Jerome Abramovitch

fifth from top- Dany Desjardins and George Stamos, photo by Belle Ancell